Pink Floyd Announce 27-Disc ‘Early Years’ Box

Pink Floyd fans are being offered an in-depth look back at the start of the band's career with The Early Years 1965-1972, a massive 27-disc box set due to arrive in stores this fall.

Billed as a "comprehensive" overview that adds "much unreleased material," The Early Years is scheduled to make its way to stores on Nov. 11, and breaks its titular time span down into seven volumes that add up to nearly 12 hours of audio and 14 hours of video — including more than 20 unreleased songs and over seven hours of previously unreleased live audio, as well as more than five hours of rare concert footage.

According to a press release announcing the set, "The Early Years 1965-1972 will give collectors the opportunity to hear the evolution of the band and witness their part in cultural revolutions from their earliest recordings and studio sessions to the years prior to the release of The Dark Side of the Moon, one of the biggest selling albums of all time. From the single 'Arnold Layne' to the 20-minute epic 'Echoes,' fans will see the invention of psychedelic progressive rock via an insightful collection that explores the Pink Floyd story from the time Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason and Syd Barrett met at London’s Regent Street Polytechnic, through to Syd’s departure and David Gilmour joining to form the iconic lineup."

The box's volumes are organized thematically, with Cambridge St/ation offering a look at Barrett’s 1965-1967 tenure. The period directly after Barrett's exit is covered in Germin/ation, and Dramatis/ation picks up the following year, adding unreleased material recorded for the More soundtrack. Devi/ation follows the band through 1970, including their BBC performance of Atom Heart Mother; Reverber/ation offers an extended look at Meddle; and Obfusc/ation includes a remixed Obscured by Clouds. The bonus disc, Continu/ation, rounds up more rarities, including live cuts and scores for The Committee, More and La Vallée (Obscured by Clouds).

Also among the set's offerings are an assortment of Pink Floyd memorabilia, including five 7" singles in replica sleeves. A number of tracks, including the previously unreleased "Vegetable Man" and "In the Beechwoods," were mixed specifically for The Early Years.

The full set, available to pre-order now, boasts a hefty price tag, but for fans patient enough to wait until 2017, the bulk of The Early Years will be broken down into its individual components and released separately — with the exception of the bonus disc, which will remain exclusive to the full set. For the truly budget-conscious, the band is also releasing a highlights package, Cre/ation-The Early Years 1967-1972, that slims the box down to two discs and 27 tracks.